Flesh & Blood
by AtroquinineMyLove
Summary: A series of one shots about Kristoph and Klavier and how they grew up together
1. Chapter 1

**Hey sooo I felt like writing one of these series one shots things and I decided to do one about about Kristoph and Klavier. These are all based off of personal headcanons, none of what's happening in these one shots is actually canon, if one includes anything canon, I'll be sure to put that in an author's note**

 **Also, I will be writing some backstory (stuff about their parents etc) but again, it's all headcanoned.**

 **For this first one Klavier will be a baby so Kristoph will be around 8/9 years old**

* * *

Kristoph stood beside the crib, looking at his baby brother. The way he was lying there quietly, his tiny fists clenched. Kristoph just stood there observing, he waited patiently for his baby brother to wake up because he didn't want to disrupt him.

He watched as Klavier slowly opened his sapphire eyes and blinked a few times up at his older brother and stretched his small arms out. Kristoph reach his hand into the crib, allowing Klavier to gently clench his fist around Kristoph's index finger.

Kristoph carefully reached both of his arms into the crib, despite still being quite small himself, he managed to lift his brother out of his crib and into his arms. To avoid danger of waking their parents or dropping Klavier, Kristoph didn't take him anywhere, he sat down on the floor of the small room just next to his parents' bedroom, cradling Klavier in his lap.

Klavier made a few babbling sounds but Kristoph tried to shush him. "You will wake mother and father." He whispered.

Kristoph supported Klavier's neck by placing one hand behind Klavier's head, softly stroking the small bit of platinum blond hair, a similar colour to his own.

At first, Kristoph wasn't sure about having a sibling. He wanted to be an only child, but once he had seen his baby brother, he had a change in heart. His brother was so soft, gentle, quiet. Kristoph reached to the top of the dresser where there was half a bottle of milk left, Klavier made a few more noises so Kristoph fed him the remains in order to keep him quiet. He watched as Klavier began drifting back to sleep.

Kristoph felt his eyelids get heavy as he began to drift into sleep holding a sleeping baby in his lap.

* * *

 **This one was pretty short but new ones coming will be longer**


	2. Chapter 2

**This chapter is quite depressing and involves death so if you're sensitive to that kind of stuff you might not wanna read this, Klavier is about 6 years old in this one.**

* * *

Kristoph held the sobbing child close to his chest, he had to take him back inside since it was too much for the young boy to handle. Kristoph tried to get the images out of his head, the images of their father's dead body.

He didn't want to cry. He couldn't. He had to stay strong for his little brother.

"Who did it?"

"I don't know Klavier." Kristoph knew that it wasn't actually anyone else's fault. Their father just had an unfortunate accident in his car. A fatal accident. Luckily their mother, who was also in the car, survived, but she was resting in the hospital for a few days due to the fact that she still suffering some injuries.

"It's not fair." Klavier sniffled.

"I know. It'll be okay." Kristoph knew that was a stupid thing to say normally, but the six year old would believe most things told to him by his older brother.

"How do you know that?"

"We still have mother. And I'll still be here." He had to be there. Even when their mother's injuries clear up, that doesn't mean the same will happen to her emotional injuries. He had to be there for both of them.

Even though Kristoph himself was only fourteen years old, he still understood a lot more about loss than his younger brother did so he decided he needed to be there to help him through it.

* * *

It was late at night. Klavier stood looking at the table where his mother sat, her head resting on the hard surface, the arm that was not in a cast hung low down by her side, holding what seemed to be an empty glass bottle. Klavier was too young to understand what was really going on.

At first he thought she had accidentally fallen asleep but then he heard her soft sobbing. He carefully approached her, not wanting to startle her. He didn't know what to say or do so he just sat on the chair in front if where she was sitting.

She lifted her head and Klavier got a closer look at the bruise just under her right eye and the cut under her lip. Klavier looked quite similar to his mother, she had long blonde curls and baby blue eyes.

"Go back to bed Klavier."

"But I wanted to see if you were okay."

"I'm fine."

Klavier wasn't convinced. It broke his little heart to see another member of his family like this. He couldn't just leave her alone.

"Kristoph told me it's going to be okay." He forced a smile.

Silence.

"Maybe you should go to bed too. This table doesn't look very comfortable."

More silence.

"I'm happy that you're alive."

Klavier wanted to cry again, but Kristoph always told him to be brave, that way everyone else around him would be brave too.

"What's going on down here?"

Kristoph entered the room. "Klavier, it's very late for you. Come on." Kristoph scooped up the small boy and carried him back upstairs to his bedroom. "Wait in my room, okay? I'll help mother."

Klavier sat on Kristoph's bed silently, he could here from downstairs the soft murmurs, sobbing. Murmurs from his mother turned into yelling. He grabbed the pillow and pressed it around the back of his head with force, trying to cover his ears. After it stopped, he looked through the narrow crack between the door and door frame and spotted them both coming up the stairs, Kristoph helped her into her room then returned back to his own.

"What happened?"

"Everything is okay."

Kristoph sat on the bed beside Klavier.

"I wish he was still here." Klavier pouted.

"...So do I." Kristoph hugged his brother. "But... we'll be okay " Kristoph began to feel like he was over using the phrase, but it was all he could think of to say.

Shortly after, Klavier fell asleep in his brother's arms. Kristoph gently tucked him into bed and let him stay in his room for the night.

* * *

 **I would've updated this soon but I had writer's block!**

 **Reviews would be appreciated, thanks :)**


	3. Chapter 3

"How did you manage to get yourself into this predicament?" Kristoph sighed as he brought the first aid kit to Klavier.

Kristoph had gone to pick Klavier up from school, only to be greeted by Klavier's teacher who informed him that Klavier - who had a black eye and bruises on his arms - had gotten in a fight with some other kids in his class.

"I hate my school. The kids make fun of me."

"What do they say?"

"W-Well they say really mean stuff about our parents, they kept laughing and saying that Dad was really stupid and that it was his own fault that he died." Kristoph noticed tears welling in Klavier's eyes.

"Did you hit him first?"

"I didn't mean to." He started crying. "I just wanted to be left alone."

Kristoph cleaned one of the cuts on Klavier's arm and covered it up with a plaster, then moved his attention to the bruises.

"Look, Klavier, you need to learn to control your emotions, you're only eight years old, if you get into a fight every time a kid makes fun of you, you'll end up getting expelled but there's nowhere else we can send you. Not while mother is already as stressed as she is."

Klavier's next words were inaudible as he continued to cry.

"Calm yourself down!" Kristoph realised he may have sounded snappy but he needed to. That was the only way to get Klavier to listen. "Seriously Klavier, you'll make yourself sick." Kristoph hugged his brother. "I know it's going to be hard, but you can't get away from kids like that, everyone encounters bullies, sometimes you just have to deal with it. As hard as that sounds. I know you can be brave."

Kristoph remembered that day, two years ago, their father's funeral.

* * *

"Kristoph I didn't cry. I was brave! Just like you said. Just... just like Dad always said." His voice cracked on the last few words.

"I know. He would be proud of you." Kristoph smiled.

* * *

"Kristoph, is it true that people die of loneliness?"

"Who told you that?"

"A kid in my class. He said mother will die soon."

"He's lying, Klavier. Besides, she's not lonely. She still has us." Kristoph dabbed the cold cloth against Klavier's black eye.

"Kristoph can I be home schooled? I don't like my school."

Kristoph smiled. "I'm afraid not. Mother works everyday and I'm still in school as well."

"Oh."

"I can speak to your teacher if you want. Then they can stop those kids from being mean, okay?"

Klavier nodded. "I will be okay!" He said, mimicking what Kristoph kept saying to him on the day of their father's death.

"Yes. Yes you will."


	4. Chapter 4

**This chapter is also depressing. Subjects contained: alcohol abuse, mentions of child abuse/child neglect, mentions of death.**

* * *

"Please, Mother, don't."

Klavier sat there listening to Kristoph and his mother arguing after she came home to find out he had got in a fight.

"Yelling at him isn't going to help him learn."

"Well, I don't know what to fucking do with him anymore! Look at him! He's already been to two different damn schools because of something like this!"

"Listen, I know you're upset but Klavier is not a violent child. This doesn't happen much."

"Tell me what to do with him then, Kristoph! What do I do?"

From the way she was shouting and just her reactions in general, Kristoph could tell that his mother was intoxicated.

"Nothing. I'll deal with him, go and sober up."

Ever since the unfortunate incident of her husband's death, she often turned to alcohol, because of this, she recently lost her job, meaning the teenager had to get an extra job just to be able to at least pay for their survival (since Klavier was still too young to get a job himself). He was quite worried about this, however. Considering he was still in school, he wouldn't be home an awful lot and when their mother was drunk, she would sometimes get abusive. He hated to think about leaving Klavier alone with her. Sometimes she would leave the eight year old alone as well.

One time Kristoph recalled coming home and finding a mark on Klavier's arm. Once confronting him and asking what happened, Klavier tearfully explained exactly what she did with a belt. It took a lot to get him to reveal to him what had actually happened, considering what she had said to him.

* * *

"If Kristoph notices, what are you going to tell him?"

"I-I fell..."

"Good."

* * *

Over time, his older brother had become more of a parental figure towards him. The only reason Kristoph hadn't reported the abuse to any one yet is because he still wasn't old enough to live by himself - let alone take care of another child. They didn't have many relatives near them and they didn't want to go into foster care in case of becoming separated.

As she approached Klavier, Kristoph acted as a barrier to prevent her from going any closer.

"Alright... I'll sober up..." She glanced at Klavier, then slowly stumbled out of the room.

"Maybe you should go and have a shower or something. Make yourself feel better."

Klavier nodded and headed upstairs.

* * *

Kristoph quietly left his room and made his way to Klavier's - who was surprisingly still awake.

"I can't sleep." The younger boy whispered.

"Neither." He entered the room and perched on the edge of Klavier's bed.

"Why does she hate me so much?"

"She doesn't. She's just angry, she's upset because of Dad. Sometimes people get angry at those around them when they're in pain."

"What if we find out who caused Dad to die? Will she stop being angry at us?"

"It's not that easy Klavier. Dad's death was an accident."

"Oh." Klavier paused to think some more. "If I say sorry, will she stop being angry?"

"Klavier no, you haven't done anything wrong, you shouldn't feel the need to apologise."

"But I got into a fight at school, that made her even angrier."

"Yeah but still."

The main reason why Kristoph didn't want Klavier to apologise was because last time, she just yelled at him more and Kristoph didn't want Klavier to go through anymore pain.

"Tomorrow is Saturday so at least I'll be here to look after you, okay?'

Klavier nodded.

"Get some sleep." Kristoph got up to leave the room as Klavier began to fall asleep.

Before he returned to his own room, he turned to look at Klavier, and thought about how brave the young boy was - and how he just wanted to be there to keep him safe.

* * *

 **I'm sorry this one was so depressing ;-; I promise the next one will be happy**


	5. Chapter 5

A few months had passed, everything was beginning to get better.

Their mother had gotten help for her alcohol problems, she wasn't violent any more. She was happy, just like she used to be, just like they wanted her to be.

Although she was happier, she still spent one night crying, but for a different reason. She cried over Klavier, she cried remembering how she treated him.

It was late at night, she went into Klavier's bedroom

"Klavier." She gently shook him awake.

"Mmpf... w-wha...?" The young boy rubbed his eyes as he sat up in his bed. "What's going on?"

"Shh... you'll wake your brother."

"Are you better now?"

"Yes, Klavier." She smiled. "I am better." She perched beside him on his bed and pulled him in for a hug. "I'm sorry Klavier, I treated you badly."

"It's okay."

"I should've paid more attention to what happened, with your school. You're still a child, I shouldn't have yelled at you like that. I know you were just... missing Dad..."

Klavier nodded. "I'm okay."

"Good boy." She smiled as she stroked his platinum blond hair. "You're so brave Klavier."

"But I made you mad because I got in a fight at school. You said you didn't know what to do with me anymore because I moved schools twice. And you hit me..."

She sighed and cursed under breath at herself because Klavier could remember everything bad she did to him.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't your fault. I came to tell you that, okay? You can go back to sleep."

Klavier nodded and laid back down in bed.

"Goodnight." She walked to leave his bedroom, but just before she did, she heard him whisper:

"I forgive you."

* * *

 **Bit of a short and sweet one. Felt like I should write something happier.**


	6. Chapter 6

"I can't believe this..."

"It was an accident."

"Klavier, you're so irresponsible."

Klavier sat down and rested his crutches against the couch.

"And I suppose you find this funny?"

"It was worth it."

"No it wasn't! The amount of times I've had to be called out of school to come and deal with you and another one of your stupid choices... I suggest you behave yourself for the rest of the day."

Kristoph left the room and went into the kitchen to grab a tub of ice cream out of the freezer. ' _This should keep him quiet for a couple of hours._ ' He thought to himself, as he gave the tub and a spoon to Klavier. "In all honesty, I don't particularly have the time to deal with you today, so please behave." Kristoph requested bluntly.

"Meanie..." Klavier mumbled.

Kristoph returned to his bedroom once he believed the eight year old would be occupied long enough for him to be able to finish his homework.

But of course, he was wrong.

Not even half an hour later, he heard Klavier shouting his name.

"Kristoph!"

' _That boy better be in a great deal of pain..._ ' He thought to himself as he made his way back down stairs.

"What do you want?"

"I finished my ice cream."

"And?"

"I'm bored."

"Well, take a nap or something."

"But that's boring!" He whined. "Can you stay here and talk to me? Please?"

"I have work to do. Don't bother me unless it's urgent." And with that, he returned upstairs.

A small part of him felt bad about leaving him like that, Klavier could be quite sensitive about his brother. After all, he was the only one who Klavier could talk to, the only one who listened to him.

But for that reason, Klavier also felt bad. For the next few hours, he didn't say anything. He sat alone, quietly, not wanting to anger his brother any further. If he were to need something, he attempted to get it by himself.

But that was a bad idea.

He grabbed his crutches and made his way into the kitchen to get himself a drink. He convinced himself that he didn't need Kristoph's help.

Kristoph heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen.

' _What on earth could that boy be up to now?!_ '

"Klavier, I told you to rest in there!"

"I was just trying to get a drink by myself."

"You should've just asked for help."

"You told me not to bother you."

Kristoph sighed. ' _I should've known that would backfire..._ '

Kristoph lifted his younger brother from off of the floor and took him back in the living room.

"Stay out of trouble or you're going to hurt yourself some more. I'll get you a drink, stay here and don't move."

They then heard the sound of the door unlocking.

"Kristoph? Why are you back so early? Shouldn't you be at school?" Their mother asked in confusion.

"Ah, yes, well... I had to collect Klavier from school."

"What's he done now?"

"He has a broken leg."

She sighed and entered the living room. "Oh Klavier... what have you done?" She knelt down in front of the small child.

"I'm sorry. I just wanted to impress the kids in my class."

"What am I going to do with you?" It was the same question she asked when he had gotten in that fight with another kid, but she had a different tone about her. She wasn't angry, she was smiling. Her tone of voice was soft, instead of becoming violent like she used to be, she hugged him and kissed his forehead.

He would never admit it, but Kristoph felt a small hint of jealousy. It's not because he wanted the attention from his mother, it was because of Klavier.

He loved the fact that Klavier and his mother were close again, but as annoying as he found him, he enjoyed being like a parental figure to his brother.

"I have work to do. Kristoph, would you mind watching over your brother? Be good for your brother, Klavier." She smiled at Kristoph, as if she could tell what he was thinking. As she left the room, she whispered to him; "Thanks for all your help. I appreciate it."

When she left, Kristoph took a seat beside Klavier, who was smiling at him.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You're jealous, aren't you Kris?"

"No! Why would I be?"

"It's okay, Kristoph." Klavier wrapped his arms around Kristoph's waist. "You're still the best brother ever."

Kristoph was taken aback by what Klavier had said. He didn't always show this much affection. But he smiled and hugged him back.

"Kristoph, will you ever stop caring about me?"

"Of course not."

"And you will always be there for me?"

"Yes."

"What if... even when I'm all grown up?"

"Yes, Klavier."

"Can you promise?"

"I promise."

There were two things Klavier wish he had known at that time:

One: that Kristoph wouldn't be keeping that promise

Two: what his mother was planning

* * *

 **Slightly late update, writer's block sucks! But I do have ideas for the next chapter, so the wait won't be so long, but I must warn you, it's going to be sad again, but I will follow it with something happy. Thanks for everyone who has left a review or even just favorited!**

 **And, if there are any certain things you would like to see me write about in this story (like a certain scenario or something), send them to me over pm or you can just leave a review :)**

 **Thanks for keeping up with this story!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Apologies, extremely sad and dark chapter incoming.**

 **WARNING: do not read if you are sensitive to suicide! Read with this in mind!**

* * *

It was the very early hours of the morning, about a couple of hours after midnight. Klavier quietly made his way out of his bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom. It was a few weeks after Klavier had broken his leg, he was out of his bandage and off of his crutches, but he still had a slight limp about him.

He didn't check to see if the door was locked, but the light was on. He softly called out Kristoph's name, then for his mother - no answer. Just in case, he decided to just use the downstairs bathroom.

After returning upstairs, he quietly looked into Kristoph's bedroom to find that he was still sleeping.

 _'Perhaps she fell asleep in the bath again.'_

She did that a lot, but Klavier would sometimes wake her up since his innocent child mind worried about her accidentally drowning.

So like he usually did, he opened the door to the bathroom.

But he saw something he did not want to see.

Something a young boy his age should never see.

He dropped to his knees at the sight. He choked up as he attempted to shout for help and it came out as a barely audible squeak.

He just sat there and cried.

Klavier couldn't quite make out what it was but it was tied very tightly around her neck. He wished he couldn't understand what was happening, but ever since his father died, he became aware to other causes of death.

But he didn't know a lot about this way of death.

Kristoph had taught him all about murder, accidents, medical problems, but not this.

Suicide.

Blood dripped onto the white tiles. It came from her arm. Klavier wasn't sure if it was a fresh wound, or if they had been there for a while and being up there where she was had caused her blood to exit through them.

The young boy convinced himself it wasn't real. It was a dream - that's what he told himself.

He picked up a towel and wet it, then began trying to get rid of the blood that continued to drip slowly from her lifeless body.

 _'You always hated mess. Kristoph does as well.'_

As the child sat on his knees, scrubbing desperately, he looked back up at her.

"But Kristoph might get angry if I wake him up." He said, having a one-sided conversation, pretending he could hear her talking back to him.

Her face had lost all colour and her crystal blue eyes, a colour that used to be much like his own, looked dead. The longer he looked, the larger his urge to throw up became.

Then he lost it after coming back to reality.

He fell back again and just cried some more.

"Everything was supposed to be better! You were happy!"

He went to get the phone, thinking he should call someone, but he wasn't sure who.

He contemplated calling an ambulance, but he didn't think there'd be any point, since he now knew the truth that she was dead. He was in a panic, he felt helpless. He didn't think there was anything he could do.

He finally decided to wake his brother up. "K-Kristoph?" He whimpered as he softly shook his brother awake. "I-I need some help."

"Klavier...?" Kristoph sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Why are you awake?"

He threw his arms around his older brother and sobbed into his chest.

"What's wrong now?" He asked softly, Klavier was a sensitive child so Kristoph wasn't expecting the issue to be as bad as it was. "I can't help if you don't tell me."

"It's really bad Kristoph! I couldn't help her!"

"Klavier, calm yourself down and tell me what happened."

Klavier took Kristoph's hand and pulled him in the direction to the bathroom.

"Oh my god..." Kristoph felt a sudden sick feeling in his stomach.

The one time Klavier wasn't exaggerating, and this was it.

"Oh my god." He repeated as he moved closer to her.

"Klavier," he attempted to stay calm, for Klavier's sake. If he panicked, Klavier would panic too. "Bring the phone to me." Klavier obeyed and went to get the phone, he made his way down the stairs slowly because he was also feeling sick and dizzy.

Klavier waited in his room silently, trying to hear who Kristoph was talking to on the phone, or what he was saying. He felt a heavy feeling in his chest when he heard the words;

"My mother has killed herself."

* * *

They watched as her body was carried away, covered by a white sheet and carried away into an ambulance.

Kristoph was being questioned by one of the men, Klavier couldn't quite make out what they were saying, but he heard his brother mention his name a couple of times, then he heard him say something along the lines of "my brother is too hurt to speak about it at this time."

After they left, Kristoph entered the living room, where Klavier sat on the couch, curled up into a ball.

"You should've told me straight away."

"I couldn't help her."

"No one could."

"Why did she do it?"

"I'm not sure." He lied through his teeth. In his pocket, was a note that Klavier had failed to notice, he had it hidden. He wanted to show Klavier, but it was too soon and he believed it to be too much for the poor child to handle. "You were very brave, Klavier."

"But I cried."

"That doesn't mean you're not brave. It's okay to cry sometimes." He held him, much like the time their father died. "We should go back to bed. It's late." The teenager carried his brother upstairs.

"Kristoph?"

"Yes?"

"Can I sleep in your room with you tonight?"

Kristoph agreed to Klavier's request, probably out of pity. He'd be surprised if he wasn't traumatised after what he had discovered.

After settling Klavier down to sleep, Kristoph pulled the note out of his pocket and forced himself to read it again.

 _Kristoph,_

 _If you're reading this, I'm sorry._

 _I appreciate your help with Klavier, he really looks up to you. I ask that you continue to be there for him._

 _Perhaps you'll think I'm selfish,_

 _Perhaps you'll hate me from now on,_

 _And I completely understand why._

 _I know you're a strong person, but Klavier will need you there._

 _I wish I could've said goodbye in person, but I know you understand why I couldn't._

 _I am sorry._

"I'm here, Klavier." Klavier was still sound asleep, but Kristoph continued the one-sided conversation. "It's just us now. You have me. I'm here."

* * *

 **I wasn't planning to make this as dark as it was, but it just ended up being that way, I'm sorry this was so depressing**

 **But the depressing stuff is out of the way for a while, so the next few chapters will be happy, and will hopefully make up for this chapter.**


	8. Chapter 8

Klavier wasn't quite sure who Kristoph was talking to, but it didn't sound too good.

"Klavier can be a difficult child sometimes..." Those were the words that broke his little heart and made him want to cry.

His own brother thought he was 'difficult'. Granted, at times, he could be a bit stubborn. He wouldn't leave his room much unless Kristoph physically lifted him up and carried him out. He refused to get out of bed for school and kept insisting he wanted to be home schooled. He refused to do his homework, meaning Kristoph would receive phone calls and got a mouthful from Klavier's teacher about his lack of work. So yes, the boy could be stubborn.

But Kristoph had to sympathise. It wasn't easy for a child. Klavier came home crying sometimes over the other kids making fun of him for not having his parents around.

Klavier had become quite secretive since then as well. He didn't open up to Kristoph much anymore. Whenever something was clearly bothering him and Kristoph asked what, he would just say; "nothing".

"...But I would really rather not be separated from him. He... doesn't do well on his own."

"Well, he wouldn't be alone, Mr Gavin. He would have a new family."

Klavier curled up under the blanket on the couch and silently sobbed. These people wanted to take him away from his brother.

"I appreciate the concern, but please, he's my little brother. He needs me."

"If it's okay with you, may I speak to him about your parents?"

"Of course." The two entered the living room and Kristoph crouched down in front of his brother. "Klavier, this nice lady wishes to speak with you about Mother and Father. Is that okay?"

Klavier shrugged. "Okay."

The woman was quite young, she looked to be in her twenties. She had long brunette hair and a caring smile.

She also crouched down in front of the child and smiled at him. "Hello, Klavier. My name is Ms. Smith. How are you feeling today?"

"Um... I'm okay." He hesitated.

"Would you mind telling me what your father was like?"

"I didn't see him that much. He was at work a lot."

"What did he do for his work?"

Klavier looked at his brother.

"He was a detective." Kristoph answered.

"When you did see him, did you have an alright relationship with him?"

"Yes. He told me a lot about his work."

"Did you find it interesting?"

Klavier nodded. "He told us loads of really cool stories. I miss him a lot."

"You're very brave. He'd be very proud of you."

Klavier smiled. "That's what Kristoph said too."

Klavier enjoyed speaking to this woman, she really did want what was best for him.

"And your mother? What was she like?"

"She was very upset about dad. She lost her job and it made her get very angry, but then she got better and loved us again."

"And you... found her, that day, didn't you? Did you know what happened at first?"

"No. I didn't know until I heard Kristoph on the phone."

She turned to face Kristoph. "Apologies, Mr. Gavin, but would it be alright if Klavier and I speak alone for a minute?" She asked politely.

"That's fine. I'll wait in the kitchen."

He smiled at his brother before leaving the room. She took out a notebook and a pen.

"Right. Would you mind describing your relationship with your older brother?"

"He cares about me a lot. He always looks after me, even if he finds me annoying or difficult. He looked after me when I was being bullied and when I broke my leg."

"Do you still get bullied?"

"Not really. The kids still make fun of me sometimes, but not as much."

Klavier observed as she wrote it all down in her notebook.

"You're not going to move me to a new family are you? I don't want to leave Kristoph."

She looked up from her writing and placed her hands in her lap.

"I'm a reasonable woman, I'm willing to make a deal." She called Kristoph to come back into the room. "Klavier and I have been speaking and it seems that the two of you have a caring relationship. About what I said earlier, I'm willing to make a deal with you. If you can prove yourself to be a good parental figure towards Klavier, I'll let him stay with you. Does that sound fair?"

"Yes. Thank you." He smiled.

"I'll come back next week. However, from what I've seen and heard, I'm sure you'll be fine. I shall be taking my leave now. It was a pleasure speaking to you both. Take care." And with that, she left.

"She was really nice."

"Yes. She was." Kristoph looked at his watch. "You should go to bed."

"But I'm not tired."

"If I want to prove I'm a good parental figure, I need to send you send you to bed at reasonable times. Come on." Kristoph held the small boy, who was still wrapped up in his blankets, and carried him upstairs.

Klavier, usually, would've protested, but he desperately wanted to be able to stay with Kristoph, so he knew he just had to obey.

After brushing his teeth and climbing into bed, Kristoph tucked him and kissed his forehead.

"You were brave today."

"I thought you would get rid of me."

"Why would you think that?"

"Because I am a difficult child."

Kristoph froze. _'He wasn't supposed to hear that...'_ Klavier took Kristoph's silence as a bad sign.

"You... think I'm too annoying."

"N-No Klavier, I didn't..."

"Think I would hear you? I heard everything. You don't want me to stay because you love me, you want me to stay because you think I'm too weak to be by myself!"

"No no no! No! I _do_ want you to stay Klavier! Please-"

"If I ran away and never came back, you would probably be happy."

 _There he goes again, being a drama queen._

"That's not true!"

"Say it."

"Say what?"

"I want you to say that you love me." Klavier crossed his arms across his chest and had a stern look on his face.

"I... I love you."

Klavier nodded, then rolled over in his bed facing the other way. Kristoph went to leave the room, but stopped at the door, he wasn't satisfied.

"You're not weak..."

Klavier faced his brother, but Kristoph still stood in the doorway with his back to the younger boy.

"I do want you to stay. I didn't want to seem weak... I'm sorry, Klavier. I didn't mean what I said."

Klavier smiled at his brother's words. It was rare for Kristoph to admit feelings of weakness, or to apologise for something he had said.

"It's okay, Kristoph. I know you care about me."

"I do. I really do."

* * *

"Appropriate sleeping schedule. No school related problems, overall improvement in happiness. This is a real improvement. You've done well. Klavier," Ms. Smith crouched down to his height, "are you happy with this?" She asked sweetly.

Klavier smiled up at Kristoph. "Yes I am."

"Well, you've certainly proved yourself. I wish the two of you the best, any problems, you know how to contact me."

"Yes. Thank you very much."

Klavier felt a great sense of relief and jumped into his brother's arms once she had left.

"I told you that you'd always have me. I'd never give you up. We have to stick together now."

"Yeah!" Although not quite matching his brother's enthusiasm, Kristoph also felt relieved. He didn't know what could be happened if they took his little brother away from.

After all, they needed each other.

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed small and upset mourning Klav plus a brother argument then cute little make up**

 **Thanks for all of the support!**


	9. Chapter 9

**I'm enjoying writing these, and as much as it pains me, obviously I'm going to have to write about Kristoph becoming the person he is towards Klavier in game at some point, because my headcanon is that he was a good brother at one point, but something happened to change him**

 **But that won't be for a little while, so here's another one.**

* * *

"Kristoph has a girlfriend!" Klavier sang, causing the older boy's cheeks to turn red.

"She is not my girlfriend. She will be here soon and you better not embarrass me."

"What's her name?"

"Victoria."

"Do you want her to be your girlfriend?"

"Wh-What makes you think that?!"

"Your cheeks are red." He replied innocently.

Kristoph wasn't sure what was more embarrassing - the fact that Klavier was smart enough to pick up on the fact that his older brother may have the tiniest crush on this girl, within ten minutes of Klavier even knowing who this girl is, or the fact that he was being outsmarted by a _child._

"No, she's just a friend."

"I don't think you're telling the whole truth." Klavier wouldn't give up as he continued to press for details.

"Drop it."

"Tell me the truth."

"I don't have to tell you anything."

"Heh. You should at least try to defend yourself," a smirk grew across the boy's face, "I mean, what kind of defence attorney can't even defend himself?"

And now the child was giving him sass.

"Klavier, you don't know anything about law. You're only eight."

"Yeah but I'm gonna be nine tomorrow! And for you information, I do actually."

 _Little smartass..._

"Highly doubtful. You don't even know the difference between a defence attorney and a prosecutor."

"A defence attorney is someone who takes in clients who have been accused of a crime, they fight to prove the innocence of their client by cross examining witnesses and pointing out contradictions in their testimonies with evidence. Prosecutors try to prove the defendant guilty by preparing the witnesses to take the stand and they explain to the rest of the court who the defendant is, a brief summary of what happened at the scene of the crime and why the defendant was accused - in other words, the defendant's suspected motive."

Kristoph stared at him in shock.

 _Did all of that really just come out of his mouth?_

"That's impressive coming from the kid who used to think babies came out of the mother's belly button."

"Hey! You refused to tell me where they really came from, you wimp! So I tried to think it up my own way."

"Wait, 'wimp'?"

"Yes. I know where they come from now, you were a wimp for not telling me in the first place."

Ouch. Being called a wimp for not delivering 'the talk' by a child didn't do too well for his pride. Klavier continued his attention back to the TV, Kristoph had an idea on how to embarrass him - or at least get him to shut up about Victoria.

"Miranda." He smirked. Klavier blushed about as red as Kristoph did, but he didn't move his attention away from what he was watching. "She seems like a nice girl."

Klavier wasn't the only one smart enough to pick up on a small crush. Kristoph had picked up on Klavier's childish crush on another girl.

"You like her?"

"No!"

Kristoph laughed. "Alright, calm down. I was joking."

"It's not funny."

"Oh come on! You're allowed to do it to me but I can't do it to you?"

"I'm only a child."

 _Playing that card, is he? I should stop though, he'll probably cry again and I'll have to apologise. Again._

Kristoph heard a knock at the door. "Behave yourself." He told Klavier as he got up and went to the front door.

He attempted to eavesdrop on what they were saying, but he couldn't really hear anything. After waiting for a while, the two of them entered the living room and Kristoph shot Klavier a subtle glare as he started smirking again.

The girl was fairly tall and had black hair that reached just past her shoulders.

"Here, make yourself comfortable. Klavier, remember what I said." Kristoph reminded as he went into the kitchen.

Klavier smiled cheerfully and greeted her.

"You must be Klavier." She smiled as she sat beside him on the couch.

"Yep!" He had a plan, Kristoph would get pretty mad at him, but he knew he'd just be able to pull the 'I'm just a child' card again.

"What are you watching?"

"Some kind of court show. I wanted to see what it's like because Kristoph wants to be a defence attorney."

"Does law interest you?"

"Sometimes. Kristoph thinks I should stick to music though. He doesn't think I'm smart enough."

"I'm sure that's not true."

"It is, 'you should stick to music instead, it's easier for you to handle' that's what he said to me. Even though he thinks my music hobby is a waste of time. I wanted to show him a song I could play on my guitar, but he said he was too busy to listen, it was a song I wrote by myself. I don't mention anything about music to him anymore..." The sadness could be heard in Klavier's voice. He just wanted his big brother to be proud of him.

"Well, I think that's pretty impressive." She said, in an attempt to cheer him up. "How old are you?"

"I'm gonna be nine tomorrow."

"Oh wow, I don't know many people your age who can write their own songs and play them, that is very impressive. Perhaps I'll pop round tomorrow to give you something for your birthday."

Klavier's face lit up. "You're very nice, Victoria."

"You know, Klavier, I'd love to hear this song of yours. If that's okay with you of course."

"It's not finished, but you can read it if you want to!"

"I'd love to." She smiles.

"Okay!" He jumped up. "I'll go and get it." He ran up to his room and Victoria made her into the kitchen where Kristoph was.

"He's adorable."

"Looks that way, but trust me, he's a pain."

"He really looks up to you, you know?"

"I know he does, but..."

"But what?"

"...Never mind."

"Kristoph, I know it's probably not my place to say anything, but he thinks you don't care."

"Told you that story, has he? He tells it to everyone and those puppy dog eyes of his make them believe it."

Klavier was sat on the stairs, quietly listening to what they were saying. Kristoph had changed. He didn't know how.

He clutched his notebook and looked at it as tears filled his eyes.

 _Has Kristoph already stopped loving me?_

That's all that was going through his mind. So, tearfully, he went back to his room. Sitting on his bed, he angrily tore out one of the pages, he had written something about Kristoph. He hated looking at it now.

He scrunched it up into a ball and just sat there. He picked out a small piece of paper he had hidden between two pages and read it thoroughly, tears falling as he read it a second, third and fourth time.

Kristoph had lied to him.

When stuff like this happened, Kristoph was accuse Klavier of attention seeking, so Klavier wasn't expecting Kristoph to come and see if he was okay. But he was wrong.

"Klavier? Why are you crying now?"

"Go away!"

Kristoph sighed. "I've told you, I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"Y-You lied to me Kristoph! You told me you didn't know!"

"What are you...?" Kristoph went pale upon noticing the piece of paper Klavier was holding. "Klavier... where did you get that?"

"Your room."

"Give it back to me. Now."

"No." Kristoph paused, taken aback by his brother's disobedience.

Kristoph was angry. Not only had his younger brother been snooping around his bedroom - which he has told him not to do, repeatedly - but now he refused to do what his older brother said, something he had never done before.

"Why did you tell me you didn't know?"

"Give it back."

"I'm not giving it back until you tell me. I deserve to know but you just think I'm some stupid kid, don't you?"

"Listen, Klavier, we've had this conversation too many times. You know that's not what I think of you."

"Prove it, then. Tell me everything. Tell me why she died, tell me why you lied to me."

Kristoph sat beside Klavier. "Listen, I can't tell you why she did it because I don't know... I was going to tell you about the note at some point but that night you were already shaken up and tired. I did not want to add to your sadness."

"Well when were you going to tell me?"

"I don't know..."

They stayed silent for a while until Klavier broke it. "I just wish we could have a happy family."

"We can be a happy family. Even if it's just the two of us. People may not think we're a proper family, I know the kids at school make fun of you but what does it matter to them? All that matters is that I'm here still. I'm not mother or father, I cannot replace them, but I'm here to protect you and keep you safe, alright?"

Klavier nodded and handed the suicide note back to him. "I'm sorry for taking this..."

"Hey, is everything okay up here?"

"Ah, Victoria, sorry for keeping you waiting. Yes, everything is fine." After exchanging looks, Kristoph turned to Klavier.

"Klavier, how about showing us that song?"


	10. moved to Ao3!

I've moved to Ao3: /users/BisexualKlavierGavin

I will be carrying (most of) my fics to there


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